As magnetic recording is pushed to higher areal densities, perpendicular recording may offer advantages in thermal stability over longitudinal recording, thus delaying arrival at the super-paramagnetic limit. Another advantage of perpendicular recording with single pole (SP) head and perpendicular media, with a soft underlayer (SUL), is the ability to produce a larger write field than that of a ring head to record on relatively thick media with high anisotropy constant.
A typical read-write unit is illustrated in FIG. 1. Seen there are yoke 11, write coil 12, return shield 14, and lower write shield 15. Writing is performed in the vertical direction by write pole 13 into soft underlayer and recording medium 16 (shown as a single layer) for the PMR (perpendicular magnetic recording) configuration shown here. Reading is performed by unit 19 which is typically a giant magneto-resistance (GMR) or a tunneling magnetic junction (TMJ) device.
The magnetic components of writer shield 14 as well as reader shields 17 and 18 can serve as magnetic flux conductors for external fields, so that they direct a certain amount of flux into soft underlayer and recording medium 16. When the flux density is large enough, unwanted writing or erasing can occur. Because of the magnetic softness of the shield materials, a small amount of external field can induce relatively large fields in the media and cause erasure of information on the media.
In most current PMR designs, shields 14, 17 and 18 have a strictly rectangular shape as seen in FIG. 2 which is a view of FIG. 1 along the direction of arrow 20. Due to the finite thickness and moment of the soft magnetic underlayer, flux distribution is not uniform over the surfaces of the shields. At the sharp corners and edges, the flux density can be much higher than that at the shield center. In general, data under a shield corner is usually erased first.
A routine search of the prior art was performed with the following references of interest being found:
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,757,141, Santini et al. disclose a flare on the bottom FM shaping layer and the top FM probe layer of the second pole piece where the flare point widens after the ABS. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,075,280, Pisharody et al. show surfaces of the pole portions chamfered to slope away from the plane of the recording medium. Pole shields are formed on the chamfered surfaces of the pole portion of the core.
Parker et al. teach a shield having an edge adjacent to the ABS in U.S. Patent Publication 2003/0227714 while Okada et al. describe a recessed shield to prevent leaking of the magnetic field in US Patent Publication 2003/0026039. Kuroda et al. show a shield formed to a required shape in US Patent Publication 2003/0021063 and Mori et al. teach patterning a shield layer to an appropriate size in US Patent Publication 2001/0017753.